[1.8.1-1.12.x] Modular Launch Pads v2.6.1: Launch clamps evolved: Real-style launch bases and towers [03 July 2023]

[AlphaMensae]

Finished the intertank access arm, used by pad techs to connect the hydrogen vent arm to the intertank's hydrogen outlet, as well as for general access to the intertank.

 

 

The arm is accessible by Kerbals from the FSS (via a crew access tower section rotated 90 degrees) all the way to the end, with working walkway and railings.

 

New launch demo with the new intertank and hydrogen vent arms:

 

 

And with that, I have started work on the RSS.

Just doing the inittial planning and blocking-out of the hinge and payload changeout room opening right now.

[linuxgurugamer]

@AlphaMensae

I have a small problem which is very specific to what I'm doing.  If you remember the monster rocket I showed you a few pages back, I'm trying to get the elevator to go all the way to the top, but it seems that my rocket is too tall.

So, I first thought about simply putting in a second elevator halfway up, but that isn't working, looks like the attachment point is the wrong way for what I want to do.  I can always edit the files to create a new part for the elevator in the middle, but was wondering how difficult it would be to make a part with an elevator which can go at least 50% higher than it can right now?

 

[linuxgurugamer]

@AlphaMensae

I have a small problem.  Using the Saturn V tower, I sent a Kerbal to the top of the elevator.  As soon as he stepped off, he fell through all the floors to the pad.

Is this expected?  Do I need to add something to prevent him from falling?

These are unmodified parts

Edit:  I figured this out.  I was exiting on a level which wasn't a crew access level, so I guess there is no collider there.  

I was doing this to have a double elevator (ie:  one halfway up, the second the rest of the way).  I have it working, so no real need for an elongated elevator.  I took the Saturn Tower Base 2x floor, and made a copy with the bottom attachment node reversed so I could attach it in the middle.  I don't think the base feet will be that noticable, although the missing solid girder where all the arms are attached is a bit odd

Edited September 4, 2018 by linuxgurugamer

[AlphaMensae]

@linuxgurugamer

I can easily add another, higher elevator max height position.  Currently 80m is the highest option, how higher do you need it?

And yes, in order to reduce the number of colliders on the Saturn tower, the floors in the regular tower sections do not have colliders in them.  The crew access tower section has the working floor, place it where needed.

I have had thought about making all the floors in the tower sections fully usable, but the number of colliders it would require, not only for the floors but also to allow a gap in one of the sides, would be very high, potentially causing lag problems when the launcher base is decoupled (even if they are all just box colliders).  So instead I restricted the usable floor to a special tower section. 

Also, the v2.0 Saturn tower base has two independent elevators.

 

[linuxgurugamer]

35 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

@linuxgurugamer

I can easily add another, higher elevator max height position.  Currently 80m is the highest option, how higher do you need it?

And yes, in order to reduce the number of colliders on the Saturn tower, the floors in the regular tower sections do not have colliders in them.  The crew access tower section has the working floor, place it where needed.

I have had thought about making all the floors in the tower sections fully usable, but the number of colliders it would require, not only for the floors but also to allow a gap in one of the sides, would be very high, potentially causing lag problems when the launcher base is decoupled (even if they are all just box colliders).  So instead I restricted the usable floor to a special tower section. 

Also, the v2.0 Saturn tower base has two independent elevators.

 

You say 80m is the highest, but I'm seeing 60m as the highest in the version I have.  I have version 1.3.4 installed.

120m would be enough for what I need.

You say v2.0 base has two elevators, I gather that's going to be available soon?

 

 

[AlphaMensae]

1 hour ago, linuxgurugamer said:

You say 80m is the highest, but I'm seeing 60m as the highest in the version I have.  I have version 1.3.4 installed.

120m would be enough for what I need.

You say v2.0 base has two elevators, I gather that's going to be available soon?

 

 

The v2.0 parts are available now as an alpha dev build on my Dropbox, the link was posted a few posts up.

They're not polished, still a bit rough and subject to further changes, but do work.

Right click on them, they make much more use of mesh switching.

[linuxgurugamer]

10 hours ago, AlphaMensae said:

The v2.0 parts are available now as an alpha dev build on my Dropbox, the link was posted a few posts up.

They're not polished, still a bit rough and subject to further changes, but do work.

Right click on them, they make much more use of mesh switching.

I'll take a look, but in general I usually avoid alpha releases.

[AlphaMensae]

@linuxgurugamer

Ah, I know why you said you only had 60m as the max elevator height--that's the square tower base you're using...forgot I made the angled and square bases have different elevator positions.  The square base was intended for shorter and narrower rockets, with the angled base for the Saturn V and like-types.  I suppose I could make them the same.

I'll have an updated file up soon.

[AlphaMensae]

@linuxgurugamer

Ok, here are the revised tower bases with a 120m elevator position, on my Dropbox.

Merge or copy the contents (just two .mu files) from the .zip's 3D_Assets folder to the 3D_Assets folder in Modular Launch Pads.

The two .cfg files can go in the Saturn tower folder.  They won't overwrite the existing bases, but will be new parts, identified with "*Rev*" in the part title.

[linuxgurugamer]

32 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

@linuxgurugamer

Ok, here are the revised tower bases with a 120m elevator position, on my Dropbox.

Merge or copy the contents (just two .mu files) from the .zip's 3D_Assets folder to the 3D_Assets folder in Modular Launch Pads.

The two .cfg files can go in the Saturn tower folder.  They won't overwrite the existing bases, but will be new parts, identified with "*Rev*" in the part title.

Thank you

[jianglinbin]

Hello, producer, do you have any plans to make a Chinese launch pad? After all, there are a lot of players in China, although the reputation of the Chinese is not good.

——a fan from China

[CobaltWolf]

27 minutes ago, jianglinbin said:

Hello, producer, do you have any plans to make a Chinese launch pad? After all, there are a lot of players in China, although the reputation of the Chinese is not good.

——a fan from China

I would think the issue would more be getting good reference materials, since it isn't as well documented as the western or russian launch facilities.

[jianglinbin]

40 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

I would think the issue would more be getting good reference materials, since it isn't as well documented as the western or russian launch facilities.

okey， nothing.

[AlphaMensae]

9 hours ago, jianglinbin said:

Hello, producer, do you have any plans to make a Chinese launch pad? After all, there are a lot of players in China, although the reputation of the Chinese is not good.

——a fan from China

 

9 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

I would think the issue would more be getting good reference materials, since it isn't as well documented as the western or russian launch facilities.

It's partly due to what @CobaltWolf said, but also due to that there isn't anything really distinctive or significant about the Chinese pads to make a separate one.

However, I could make a representative Chinese service/umbilical tower option for the new general-type pad base I'll be making.  This will be a smaller, lower-height alternative to the Saturn V's mobile launcher base, and will be a launch clamp-type base and not free-standing. It will be the default base for all sorts of add-on towers from various smaller rocket types:  Falcon 9/FH, Atlas V, Delta II, Delta IV, Titan II/III/IV and more.

[jianglinbin]

6 hours ago, AlphaMensae said:

 

这部分是由于@CobaltWolf  所说的，但也是因为中国的垫子没有任何真正独特或重要的东西可以单独制作。

但是，我可以为我将制作的新型通用型底座制作具有代表性的中国服务/脐带塔选项。这将是土星V移动发射器底座的一个较小的，较低高度的替代品，并且将是一个发射钳型底座而不是独立式。它将成为各种小火箭类型的各种附加塔的默认基础：Falcon 9 / FH，Atlas V，Delta II，Delta IV，Titan II / III / IV等。

Ohh,thank you,I hope there is look like the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center...

[Deltac]

So one of the Chinese launch sites is really cool.  I want to say it's a hybrid of American and Soviet.  The soviet part being something surrounding the rocket before launch at the launch site.

Unfortunately it looks like a lot of work would go into making the swinging building halves.  And then of course how many KSP rockets could use it? 

There is also this launch tower that reminds me of Atlas launch towers.

[AlphaMensae]

@Deltac Thanks!   Looks that big one is kind of distinctive after all....   It's sufficiently different (is that a round base the rocket sits on?) that it would probablt require a whole separate pad.  And yeah, with those lower swinging structures (side booster access) it'd be for rockets with 4 stubby side boosters like the Chinese use. But those structures would be separate parts, and thus optional, leaving just the tower.  I would need to video of it in action first.

The other tower, yep, quite doable as a tower option.  Are those swing arms?  Side-mounted straight ones too.

 

 

[Deltac]

1 hour ago, AlphaMensae said:

I would need to video of it in action first.

I searched, and every Chinese launch video I saw so far shows after the housing is opened up.  This pic you can see there is an upper section:

I suspect they created this semi-enclosed swing housing because of the winds to keep workers and arriving astronauts safe.

 

@jianglinbin Can you find a video of the launch tower opening and closing?

[jianglinbin]

8 hours ago, Deltac said:

我搜查了，到目前为止我看到的每一个中文发布视频都在房屋开放后显示出来。这张照片你可以看到有一个上半部分：

我怀疑他们创造了这个半封闭的秋千房屋，因为风能让工人和到达的宇航员安全无恙。

 

@jianglinbin 你能找到关于发射塔开启和关闭的视频吗？

The pictures you have found are all Jiuquan satellite launching bases. It is an old-fashioned launching base in China.

Now the latest launch site is the Wenchang launch site，

video link=http://www.kankanews.com/a/2016-06-25/0017579164.shtml    Start watching in 1：00，This is a video a few years ago. So a little fuzzy....

[jianglinbin]

16 hours ago, Deltac said:

So one of the Chinese launch sites is really cool.  I want to say it's a hybrid of American and Soviet.  The soviet part being something surrounding the rocket before launch at the launch site.

Unfortunately it looks like a lot of work would go into making the swinging building halves.  And then of course how many KSP rockets could use it? 

There is also this launch tower that reminds me of Atlas launch towers.

I think it is a replica of the Atlas launch towers.

[Cheesecake]

Maybe this can help you a little bit?

 

[AlphaMensae]

I would just do the Wenchang pad and tower, it'd be far easier and usable with a wide variety of rocket types.

The launcher base would just be a switchable color option for the large general pad (could be two sizes of general pad bases), and the tower would be an additional add-on part.  

The general pads will use the existing (and any future) hold-down arms, with the bottom-mount one best for the Chinese-style four side boosters.

[jianglinbin]

35 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

我会做文昌垫和塔，它更容易和各种火箭类型可用。

发射器底座只是大型通用衬垫的可切换颜色选项（可以是两种尺寸的通用衬垫底座），并且该塔将是附加的附加部件。  

一般衬垫将使用现有（以及任何未来）压紧臂，底部安装最适合中式四边助推器。

it's ok.If can finish, I believe Chinese players will be very excited, thank you very much.

17 hours ago, Cheesecake said:

也许这可以帮助你一点点？

 

Unfortunately the author does not update it, it does not apply with 1.4.5

[AlphaMensae]

Ok, posted another minor update of v1.3, this one is v1.3.5:

Changelog:

• Created new custom tech tree nodes for the Saturn and Soyuz pads. They are located to the left of the start node and are all independent of each other.
• Revised all Saturn pad parts that use Animated Decouplers by adding a size 0 attach node that is setup to decouple.  Nothing can be attached to this node.

I was alerted to an issue with the Saturn pad parts that use Animated Decouplers (hold down arm, tail service masts and the swing arms), they were throwing null ref error messages.  Turns out that Animated Decouplers (or KSP) didn't like them not actually having a decouple node set up in the .cfg.  So I added a size 0 top node to the parts, and made that the decouple node (mothing can be attached to this node).  Now, no more null ref spam.

I also added the new tech tree nodes for the Saturn and Soyuz pad parts (the Russian Launch Stand remains in the start), and put the associated parts in them. These nodes are located to the left of the start node, and are all independent of each other.

Oh yes, made new subassemblies for the pads and Russian stand.  

Edited September 9, 2018 by AlphaMensae

[ZobrAA]

@AlphaMensae Hi! Can you answer is it possible to use your mod for mobile launch pads? Say I've made a rocket with one of your pad, click start and than take that whole craft with VesselMover mode and shift it to launch normally at some other place, like private cosmodrome, or Dr. Evil's rocket base. Is that real? It's for roleplay purpose

Edited September 9, 2018 by ZobrAA